Last Tuesday was our most recent Presbytery meeting.  It was a joy to experience the hospitality of Knox Presbyterian Church.  I loved watching the four leaders for communion, the two pastors of Knox and the moderator and vice moderator of the Presbytery.  I believe one of these leaders just turned 50, and the others are a bit younger than that.  While we talk about diversity which is a strength, others have also noted the presence of several young, committed, and gifted leaders n our Presbytery, and that was quite evident in Tuesday’s meeting.

Now this was the first meeting in a while on a weeknight, as we were hoping for more people who are committed on Saturday mornings to attend.  Even though it was a very rainy night, we didn’t have a drop in attendance, though we had more teaching elders than on Saturdays, and fewer ruling elders.  That is what we expected, and frankly the reason we moved Presbytery meetings to Saturdays, so we could be more available to ruling elders who work outside the church.  We have one more Tuesday evening meeting in 2019, on November 19^th at Trinity in Pasadena, and we’ll discuss what we’ll do in 2020.  Let us know if you have ideas about the meetings and the schedule.

Part of the catalyst for this scheduling experiment was to give WinterFest the entire Saturday, so please be sure to register for WinterFest, to be held Saturday, February 2, at Northminster in Diamond Bar.  You can click here to see the schedule and workshop listing, and to register.  As you know, there is a discount and free resources for churches who bring 5 or more people (they don’t all have to register together; just make sure everyone types in the name of the church on the registration form).

Even though there were a couple of small glitches due to unexpected distractions (I blame the rain), I appreciated hearing the observations of Bob McKennon, who came with his wife Donna to represent East San Gabriel Valley Coalition for the Homeless.  By the way, the offering for ESGVCH was a little over $600; I fear that we had quite a few people who had to leave before we received the offering.  So thank you to those who gave, and I urge everyone to go to their website, learn about their services and donate.  Their website is https://esgvch.org/ and you can donate on-line. 

While we are talking about homelessness, please pray for all of us who will be counting homeless people in our communities this Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.  The Homeless Count not only gathers important data which are used to plan resources, but it lets the people experiencing homelessness know that we care enough to speak with them, as at least in Pasadena there is a rather extensive survey that each person responds to with the counting team.

Anyway, at the end of Tuesday’s Presbytery meeting, Mr. McKennon told me repeatedly how impressed he was with our Presbytery.  He said that compared to other denominations where he’s visited, he felt so much love during our meeting.  What do you think of that—Presbyterians being a witness to love!  I think he was struck by the care expressed when we honored the ground-breaking ministry of First Presbyterian Church of Baldwin Park, as the spirit of this church goes on to bless others.  We know that Baldwin Park members have connected with Community Presbyterian Fellowship in West Covina and also Praise Community Church, aka First Thai Presbyterian Church.  I pray that it is a blessing for them to join with other sisters and brothers in Christ, as their participation is a blessing for the receiving church.

Over the last few years, I have noticed that there has been some intentional movement within the Presbytery.  Members of churches now dismissed from the PC(USA) have become leaders at churches such as La Verne Heights and Village in Arcadia.  Other members who have become weary from helping to shoulder a fragile or struggling church have found needed respite and nurture from churches where they can “just worship,” rather than worry if the guest preacher will show up or whether the plumbing is working correctly.  I have heard of churches such as San Marino, Knox and La Verne Heights becoming a place of healing for faithful but tired church leaders.  In one recent example, a couple moved to a church before the wife’s health started to fail, and their new church was able to provide extraordinary welcome and care as the wife went on to the Lord, and the husband faced the holidays alone.  Their old church was so thankful that the couple was able to receive this care.

As I have mentioned, the several administrative commissions have also proved to be an opportunity for the Presbytery to be present with a church, through their time, wisdom, and service.  Our little experiment at West Covina is flowering into something kind of spectacular, and soon we can celebrate new pastoral leadership coming to walk with this group as we see what new thing God will be doing in West Covina!  I always remember the first comment made from the West Covina session to the Presbytery:  “We want to become a fellowship of the Presbytery, and the only request we have is that you not sell the property to developers.”  Not only did we not sell the property, but it looks like there will be all kinds of exciting new ministry happening there!

It was at the West Covina AC meeting last week (they have met almost every week for months now) when we noticed how local church members and pastors are visiting with each other, welcoming each other, reaching out to help one another, and how God is offering mutual blessings through these movements.  This is how we are a connectional church, not just in our group decision-making and accountability processes, but in our relationships that extend beyond the confines of our individual churches.

During the month of January, I have had the great privilege and joy of preaching at Northminster in Diamond Bar as they have said farewell to Jake Kim as temporary pastor.  Last week I talked about how in Christ we become family, and because Jesus called God Abba Father, we too are heirs of this wondrous and mighty God.  I have seen the love and giftedness of the Northminster family as they go through this time of transition, but I also reminded them that they have extended family, in the Presbytery, and I believe that.

I do love to see how we can be family together, in our local churches, in our Presbytery, and with our community.  May we continue to be filled with the love of Christ, so much so that our love and our joy cannot help but overflow to all the world.

Thanks be to God!

Wendy

Tomorrow evening is the first Presbytery meeting for 2019, at Knox Presbyterian in Pasadena.  The meeting will start with registration and snacks at 6:30 pm and the call to order will come at 7 pm.  We have heard that some people cannot come to Saturday morning meetings, so this year we have two Tuesday evening meetings and three Saturday meetings, in addition to WinterFest on February 2^nd (Saturday).  Hope this will enable more people to participate!

We always try to keep the meetings as efficient and relevant as possible.  We will install our new officers Roberto Ramirez as Moderator and Karen Sapio as Vice Moderator.  Current Moderator Becca Bateman will become Chair of the Executive Commission, and we thank Fried Wilson, outgoing PEC chair.  We will hear the reflections of our General Assembly delegation—Bear Ride, Deborah Owens, and Sophia Alecci—as we look ahead to voting on constitutional amendments in April.

We will show our support for East San Gabriel Valley Coalition for the Homeless, who operates the winter shelter and provides many services for homeless people in central and east San Gabriel Valley.  And we will receive support, as we celebrate our chaplaincy for retired Presbyterian church workers, funded by the generosity of House of Rest.  House of Rest has generously agreed to fund this program for 2019 at an expanded rate, as Monte Vista Grove Homes has requested that Lauren Evans provide chaplaincy services to them as well.

We will also honor the ministry of First Presbyterian Church of Baldwin Park.  The Administrative Commission has been working on resolving the legal issues related to the fraudulent tenant, and helping the members to transition to another church, for now the West Covina Presbyterian Fellowship.  They have been a blessing for West Covina, and it is possible that God may bless the ministry at West Covina in other ways too, which will allow them to continue as a blessing for the West Covina community and now our sisters and brothers from the Baldwin Park church.  The AC will be presenting a report that highlights the unique and groundbreaking ministry at Baldwin Park, a community always dedicated to following Jesus’ call for us to be welcoming of all, and seekers of justice for the oppressed.  I cannot speak of Baldwin Park without thanking Melinda Forbes and Sonnie Swenston.  Melinda especially has dedicated countless hours and worries to supporting the Baldwin Park church these last few years.  My prayer is that she and Sonnie will now be able to gain spiritual renewal in a new church home.

As I look outside my window, the skies are thick with clouds and rain is coming down.  I admit that I hate rain, and when the weather looks like this I would just as soon crawl back into bed.  But I know that rain makes the earth flourish like no human irrigation system can.  (I even saw proof of this, when a previous rain shower made some little plants of mine burst forth in a way that I didn’t think possible, as apparently I had been starving them with my paltry watering.)

It’s important for me to remember that new life springs forth from times that seem dreary.  Last week I attended the memorial services for Leon Fanniel and Zac Bright, and I know there were several other memorial services in our community last week.  As we consider the ending of Baldwin Park’s ministry, and the lives of bright lights like Leon and Zac, the human response is to mourn their loss, and to miss their presence in our lives.  But at Zac’s memorial, I felt this peace, and even as several speakers remembered the complexity and brilliance of Zac’s mind and faith, I sensed the deep love that Zac had for the Lord and for his family, which seemed to be expressed best in music.  Finney Premkumar gave the homily at Zac’s service, and offered a helpful quote which has been attributed to Methodist Bishop Warren Chandler, who did not fear crossing the river from life to death because “I belong to a Father who owns the land on both sides of the river.”

I was in a meeting yesterday with leaders of a church that has gone through great transformation.  But there have definitely been struggles with this transformation, and I mentioned that even in the best of changes, people can’t help but grieve what once was.  So as we remember the people and the churches of the past, as we look at gray skies and flowered caskets, may we look to the other side of that river, and give thanks that God is the God of all, and in God, rainy days can yield to glorious springtime, and death leads to eternal life.  Thanks be to God.

See you tomorrow,
Wendy

Happy New Year!

2019 is but a week old now, but more than usual, this new year is rooted in the year past.  While some years I can start the year with a clean slate, clean house, and a list of unbroken resolutions (for a few hours at least), I enter this year with memories of dear ones who have passed, and .  I have also been busier with work than usual.  I have joked that in Presbytery work, the holidays are quiet times because the pastors are busy earning their keep by preaching (so I am not needed for pulpit supply), and the church folk are busy planning their holiday events to get into a conflict.  But this year, we have had several pastorates end.  Jim Conner has left Arcadia Community Church, Walter Contreras has left Pasadena, Ken Tracy finished his contract with St. Andrew’s in La Puente, and Jake Kim finished his contract with Northminster in Diamond Bar.  One of the most important roles for a Presbytery is to help churches secure faithful and effective pastoral leadership, so we have been busy not only working with these churches but also supporting the many new pastors who have joined us this past year.

As we begin this new year, I see many different streams of activity in Presbytery life, almost like the marbling that happens when different colors of paints are swirled together.  We have had several loved ones pass away, so we sorely feel the loss of Leon Fanniel and Zac Bright, as well as Mariko Yanagihara’s father and Margarita Reyes’ mother and others.  Some churches are saying good-bye to their pastors while others are embarking on new adventures, such as First Thai Presbyterian Church wanting to change their name to Praise Community Church, as they have become a faith community for all their Covina neighbors.  Many of the Baldwin Park folks are worshiping with the West Covina Fellowship, and we continue to work on pastoral leadership and a partnership with International Theological Seminary that could prove to be a huge blessing for all involved.  Westminster in Temple City has found new leadership and new energy to evangelize their neighbors.  And Pasadena, having developed a new mission study that deepens their multicultural commitment into their confirmed identity as an intercultural church, will soon begin to search for an installed pastor/head of staff.

I had the opportunity to celebrate Epiphany with Northminster yesterday, and I commented on the discomfort we feel facing an unknown future.  (Ironically, we ALL face an unknown future, but sometimes it seems more uncertain than at other times.)  As the wise men were told, sometimes we have to take another road, and it can be scary to take that unknown path.  But even if we don’t know WHAT is ahead of us, we can be assured that we always know WHO is ahead of us.  Our faith is in God who loves us so much as to care for us throughout history, come to us as Jesus to live with us and die for us, and lives now and forever in and around us, calling us forth into mission, strengthening us for the journey, and walking with us every step of the way.

We can see how new life is rooted in the past, and that it is only as a grain of wheat dies does it bear much fruit.  So as we go forth into 2019, let us give thanks for all who have brought us to this place, let us reach out to those who struggle and grieve, and let us always be emboldened in the knowledge that our risen Christ, who defeated death, calls us forth to serve and share the good news of hope and love.  Let us walk together as partners, even sisters and brothers, in Christ.

Blessings for the year ahead,

Wendy

Even though Christmas is a week away, I don’t experience the loud clamor of Christmas cheer.  I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t spend much time shopping in decked-out stores, or watching the Hallmark TV channel.  I live near a mansion that drew many people because of their over-the-top Christmas decorations, but now they only turn on the lights around Christmas Eve.  

Or it might be hearing news that reminds me of the fragility of human life.  We experience tragedy even during the Christmas season, and it’s even more poignant for families who face the joyous celebrations with reminders of the ones they’ve lost.  I continue to ask for your prayers for the family and friends of Maha Hakim of Arabic Evangelical Church, and now I ask your prayers for the family of Zac Bright, one of our Presbytery members who passed away last Thursday, and for Margarita Reyes, whose mother passed on to the Lord yesterday.

There is a poignancy in Advent, as we wait for the hope of redemption that the Christ baby brings.  Songs like “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” or the anthem “We Wait for Thee” by Victor C. Johnson (“Come, Thou Prince of Peace . . . come and set Your people free”) remind us that Jesus did not come for those who are fully satisfied with wealth, health, and love.  Jesus came especially for those who seek God’s help to save the lost, to heal the sick, to welcome the outcast, to raise up the oppressed.

As we witness families fleeing violence and poverty in other countries, we are reminded that we are not so far from such suffering.  In our midst are homeless people trying to make it through every cold night, people fearful that they cannot get health coverage to help them through medical crises, victims of domestic violence trying to weigh the risks of leaving their home with the danger of staying in it.

And some decades ago, the Great Depression impacted millions of Americans.  Those who were already poor, in areas like Appalachia, which is still one of the poorest regions in the United States, suffered even more when the whole country’s economy collapsed.

In the midst of the Depression, composer and song collector John Jacob Niles came upon a poignant scene in rural North Carolina.  Here are his words describing it:

The place was Murphy, North Carolina, and the time was July, 1933.  The Morgan family, revivalists all, were about to be ejected by the police, after having camped in the town square for some little time, cooking, washing, hanging their wash from the Confederate monument and generally conducting themselves in such a way as to be classed a public nuisance.  Preacher Morgan and his wife pled poverty; they had to hold one more meeting in order to buy enough gas to get out of town.  It was then that Annie Morgan . . . stepped out to the edge of the little platform attached to the automobile. She began to sing.  Her clothes were unbelievable dirty and ragged, and she, too, was unwashed.  Her ash-blond hair hung down in long skeins. . . . But, best of all, she was beautiful, and in her untutored way, she could sing.  She smiled as she sang, smiled rather sadly, and sang only a single line of a song.

The girl sang “I wonder as I wander, out under the sky, how Jesus the Savior did come for to die.”  And based on that snippet, Niles wrote the carol we know now.

There is always a hushed moment on Christmas Eve, when we Christians remember a humble setting, with a temporarily homeless couple giving birth to a little baby in a small country occupied by a powerful empire—and yet in that baby was the fulfillment of God’s promise to go to any lengths necessary to save us.  God went so far as to come as a baby born in these poor circumstances, as a holy man confronting and being confronted by church and civil authorities, and as an outcast himself facing execution.  All for love of this world.  All “for poor on’ry people like you and like I.”  God gives us love and grace beyond words; God gives us in Jesus love and grace in the flesh.

Because we will not send another Monday Morning Update until January 7, let me highlight a few things coming up in the new year, some of which help us continue Jesus’ ministry of love and grace:

• The annual Homeless Count will come up January 22-24, with mandatory orientation January 16-17.  Take a look at the information flyer and register now!  I hope to join Wendy Gist, Ken Baker, and Areta Crowell, who did it last year and will do it again in 2019; Angelica Michail and Deidra Goulding will represent Shepherd of the Valley in Rowland Heights. 
• There will be a short Presbytery meeting on January 15 at Knox in Pasadena.  You can come register and hang out starting at 6:30, and the meeting will start at 7 pm.  We will install our new moderator and vice moderator, Roberto Ramirez and Karen Sapio, and celebrate our ongoing relationship with the House of Rest, who are again funding our Chaplain for Retired Presbyterian Church Workers program, now to include Monte Vista Grove Homes.  Congratulations to Lauren Evans for her faithful and innovative work in this area.  And we will collect an offering for East San Gabriel Valley Coalition for the Homeless, which provides multiple services including a cold-weather shelter in the area from El Monte to Glendora.  You can learn more about them at https://esgvch.org/
• Board of Pensions is offering a pre-retirement seminar at Westminster Gardens in Duarte February 13-14.  This will be one of the last in-person seminars, as future seminars will be on-line.  Registration is limited but all Board of Pensions members are welcome; go to BoP to register on-line.
• And don’t forget to register your church groups for WinterFest, which will be held February 2 at Northminster in Diamond Bar.  Groups of 5 or more receive special additional resources! And even if you’re on your own, you will be inspired and empowered with keynote speaker Alexia Salvatierra and others.  Register and get more information here.

May you have a warm and joyous Christmas.  Let us thank God with all our hearts for coming down to be with us, all of us, bringing hope even to those who have every reason to despair.  And as the body of Christ for this place at this time, may we, too, be agents of God’s love for the hurting around us today. 

Emmanuel—God with us,

Wendy

Yesterday I was listening to a sermon from a UCC pastor about the Poor People’s Campaign:  A National Call for Moral Revival.  This movement is a renewed action to further the original Poor People’s Campaign, founded 50 years ago by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I was convicted by this sermon because one of the co-chairs of this campaign is Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, a PC(USA) teaching elder in New York City, and I have failed to share her important work with San Gabriel Presbytery, while the UCC is doing so.

I don’t remember if I mentioned that this summer’s General Assembly was begun with a Bible study led by Rev. Theoharis, who is dedicated to eliminating the structural causes of poverty in the United States.  Her book, Always with Us?: What Jesus Really Said about the Poor, was recommended by our former co-moderators to the denomination for book study this year.  It is not a “how-to” book on working with the poor, but looks more at theological misunderstandings that Christians have used to turn away from God’s repeated call to fight poverty.

Rev. Theoharis’ co-chair for the Poor People’s Campaign is Rev. Dr William Barber II, a Disciples of Christ pastor who has been the president of the North Carolina NAACP since 2006, the founder of “Moral Mondays,” and one of the most important voices for human rights in the United States today.  You can find a summary of the motivation of the Poor People’s Campaign, and some key challenges to the ways all of us are dehumanized in the current world system, in its Moral Agenda.  And you can download a copy of an analysis of poverty in the United States, The Souls of Poor Folk, here.

You probably know by now I like to use statistics to illustrate the scope of an issue, so here are the Poor People’s Campaign’s estimates of poor or low-income people in our nation, based on a methodology called Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM).

43.5 percent of the U.S. population — or 140 million people — were poor or low-income in 2016. Our government does not provide information under the SPM on poverty and low-income status for all races, gender identities, or sexual identities. However, according to existing data from the SPM for 2016, the 140 million people who were poor or low-income include:

• 9% of children under the age of 18 (38.2 million children)
• 7% of adults between the ages of 18-64 (81.5 million adults)
• 5% of our elders over the age of 65 (20.8 million elders)
• 45% of women and girls (73.5 million people)
• 9% of White people (67.1 million people)
• 3% of Black people (25.9 million people)
• 1% of Latinx people (37.4 million people)
• 1% of Asian people (7.6 million people)

There is grossly inadequate information on the poverty and low-income status of First Nations, Native Americans, Alaskan Native, LGBTQIA and disabled people in this country.

But it has been estimated that Native Americans, people with disabilities, and transgender people experience poverty at double the rate of the general population.

The Poor People’s Campaign has developed demands that reflect several interrelated concerns:

• Systemic Racism
• Poverty and Inequality
• Ecological Devastation
• War Economy and Militarism
• National Morality.

I share this information not to urge you just to join the Poor People’s Campaign, but to consider how God is calling you and your church to eliminate poverty in your community.  I, like others, have tended to assume that Jesus’ comment “you always have the poor with you” means that there’s no reason to attempt to eliminate poverty, but to simply be charitable.  But rather than resigning ourselves to persistent poverty, God calls us to go outside our comfort zones in order to open our hands in generosity, that all people may live in safety and peace.  As Elizabeth Ann Seton, founder of the Sisters of Charity, said:  “Live simply, so that all may simply live.”

Every Sunday we say the Lord’s Prayer.  I always consider how our tradition—unlike some others—uses the word “debts” in the phrase “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  Other traditions will replace this with trespasses or sins.  I believe our use of this term is Biblical not only in the Matthean text, but more importantly it is a sign that Presbyterians have taken seriously God’s call for debt forgiveness as a method of economic restorative justice.  Are we willing to live this out, by giving not as an investment or a loan, but as a faithful response to God’s call to share God’s blessings with all people?

I have heard compelling reasons for Christians to give to the poor in front of them (eg, Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement), or to fight for systemic change (eg, Liz Theoharis and William Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign).  I don’t know that there is one perfect answer for all of us.  Like all our responses in faith and obedience, it is up to us to discern God’s guidance for ourselves and our churches.  I do believe that God will use us as long as we turn to God in humility and openness whenever we pray.  May it be so.

May God continue to bless you, as you bless others,

Wendy